Fabric and art of producing same



April 14, 1925.

W. J. FOX

FABRIC AND ART OF PRODUCING SAME Filed Aug. 25. 1923 Q3 D L O Q 5'Patented Apr. 14, 1925.

UNITED STATES 1,533,544 PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM FOX, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNCR TO JAMES B. KEN-DRICK CO.,-INC., OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPOBATIO N F PENN-SYLVANIA.

FABRIC AND ART OF PRODUCING SAME.

Application filed August 25, 1923. Serial No. 659,351.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. Fox, a citizen of the United States,residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inFabrics and Art of Producing Same, of

which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in fabrics and the art ofproducing the same wherein courses of filling strands are arranged sideby side and held in place within the fabric by knitted binding threadcourses having rows of connected loops extending longitudinally of andforming enclosures which confine the courses of filling strands.

Such fabrics are made with the courses of filling strands formed orcovered strips of rubber rendering the entire fabric very elasticlongitudinally of the filling strands; and such fabrics are also madewith the courses of fillin strands containing no rubber and 'being, bycomparison, substantially nonelastic; and both the elastic and thesubstantially non-elastic fabrics are extensively used in themanufacture .of abdominal supcourses so that the loops of the lastbinding porters, corwts and various other surgical appliances andarticles of wearing apparel,

At the beginning of the production of a piece of fabric ofthis characterthe loops of the first binding thread course are related to the firstfilling strand course and the succeeding binding thread courses so thatthe loops of the first binding thread course form enclosures whichconfine the first filling strand therein and form a substantially smoothand finished edge for the fabric. At the ending of the production of thepiece of fabric the loops of the last binding thread course are relatedto the last filling strand course and the preceding binding threadthread course may readily be disengaged or separated from the loops-ofthe last preceding course; and, thereafter, the loops of the next coursetoward the beginning of the fabric may be similarly se arated from thecourse immediately preceding it, and so on down to the beginning of thefabric. This condition permits the enclosures for the last fillingstrand course readily to be opened, and it also permits the enclosuresfor the preceding filling strand courses to be opened.

To preventflthis raveling of the fabric at and from itsfinishing edge,prior to' my present invention, it has been the practice to run a threadthrough the individual loops successively of the last binding threadcourse, by the aid of a suitable needle or other instrument. Thisinserted thread would prevent the loops of the last course from leavingthe loops of the last preceding course through which they extended.

The object of my present invention is to increase the speed ofproduction. and reduce the cost of manufacture of the fabric by theelimination of the tedious and expensive method of completing the fabricat the ending of the production thereof, as previously described, and bythe substitution therefor of a. novel, simple and efficient method orart of completing the fabric resulting in a fabric having an improvedand more durable finished edge portion which will not only preventraveling but which will have a de gree of elasticity longitudinally ofthe filling strands substantially equal to the remainder of the fabricwhen the rubber filling strands are employed. 5

\Vith the foregoing and related objects in view-tho. invention consistsin the novel combination and arrangement of the parts of the fabric andthe novel art or method of producing the same hereinafter described andclaimed.

'In the accompanying drawings, illustrating theinvention,

Figure 1 is av face viewfofauilpiece of fabric, showingthecondition?thereof at onejstage during the production thereof inaccordance with my'invention.

, Figures 2 and'3 are similar views, showing the condition thereof atsuccessive stages during its production.

Figure 4 is a face view of the finished fabric.

Figure 5 is a transverse section the finished fabric.

Referring to the drawings, the main body portion of the fabric comprisescourses of filling strands 1 to 9, inclusive, and courses. of knittedbinding threads 11 to 19,, nclu sive. The courses of binding threadsforn rows of loops which extend longitudinally of the filling strandsand which are connected together in a manner to form enclosures whichconfine the filling strands and holdthem in place within the fabric. Themanner in which the rows of loops of thebinding thread.

through courses are connected .to-

gether and associated with the filling strands to permit the fillingstrands to stretch when rubber is employed therein is clearly shown inthe drawings and is well known to persons skilled in this art.

In producing a piece of fabric in accordance with my invention, theloops of the first binding thread course 11 shown at the bottom of thefabric in Fig. 1 are produced by means of the knitting needles of amachine, the first or bottom filling thread course 1 is inserted and thenext bin-ding thread course 12 is produced, confining the first fillingstrand course 1 in enclosures formed by the binding thread loops, all inthe usual well known manner, and so on, up through the fabric, thefilling strands are inserted and the rows of loops of the binding threadcourses are produced until the last filling strand 9 of the ultimatelyfinished fabric is inserted into the enclosures formed by the loops ofthe binding thread course 19.

At this stage of the procedure a heavier binding thread course 20 isknitted into the fabric without the insertion of a filling strand; and,thereafter, a number of binding thread courses 21, 22, 23 and 24 of alighter thread, similar to the thread of the binding thread courses ofthe main body of the fabric are knitted into the fabric, and a fillingstrand 10 is inserted into enclosures formed by the binding threadcourse 21 immediately above the binding thread course 20, as clearlyshown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The knitting proceeds from the bottom edge to the top edge of thefabric. The knitted binding thread courses 11 to 19, inelusive, areusually formed of one continuous thread whichruns back and forth thefull length of the binding thread and filling strandcourses and isstepped iip from one course to the otherat the respective ends of thecoursesin alternate succession, and, similarly, the fillin strandcourses 1 to 9, inclusive, are formed of one continuous strand whichruns back and forth and is stepped up from one course to the next courseabove it as is well known to. persons skilled in the manufacture offabrics of the class to which my invention relates.

The heavy binding thread course 20 may be formed of a continuation ofthe thread forming the previously knitted binding thread courses byre-enforcing the same with an additional thread, or the heavy bindingthread course 20 may be formed of a thread which is heavier than andseparate and distinctfrom thethread forming the binding thread coursesof the main body of the fabric.

The final binding thread courses, 21, 22, 23 and 24 may be formed of acontinuous thread which is no heavier than the thread of the bindingthread courses of the main body of the fabric; and, when the threadforming the binding thread courses of the main body of the fabric iscontinued through the heavy thread course 20 the same thread may becontinued through the courses 21, 22, 23 and 24 after the production ofthe heavy course 20 and the removal of the re-enforcement which producedthe heavy course.

It will now be observed that the binding thread courses can not beraveled from the bottom edge of the fabric because the loops of thebottom binding thread course 11 extending downwardly from within theloops of the next course 12 above it extend around and embrace thebottom filling strand 1. It will also be observed that the loops of thetop binding thread course 24 may be readily pulled from within the loopsof the next course 23 beneath it, and so on, down through the entirepiece of fabric, each binding thread course may be similarly raveledfrom the course beneath it.

After a piece of fabric has been produced, as shown in Fig. 1, it willnot ravel from its upper edge down to the filling strand 10 withreasonably careful handling; and, in this condition, it is removed fromthe machine on which it was produced and run through a suitabletwo-thread, lock-stitch sewing machine which sews a line of elasticstitches 25 through the loops of the heavy binding thread course 20,asshown in Fig. 2. During the production of the line of stitches 25, thetwo filling strands 9 and 10 serve as guides between which the threadcourse 20 is located, and they permit the sewing machine operator to runthe piece of fabric through the machine with speed and precision. V v

Afterthe row of stitches 25 has been produced, the threads 21, 22,- '23and 24 and the filling strand 10 are raveled from one an other andfromthe remaining threads and strands by hand, leavingthe iece of fabricin the condition shown in Fig. 3. In this condition of the piece offabric, the stitches 25 are at least as numerous as the loops of thebinding thread course 20, and each loop is caught by at least onestitch. Therefore, the'stitches 25 prevent any and all parts of thebinding thread course 20 from being raveled from the preceding course19, and thus prevent any downward raveling of the piece of fabric fromits upper or finishing edge portion.

Following the production of the piece of fabric, as illustrated in Fig.3, the fabric is run through a suitable over-edge stitching machine, anda line of finishing, overedge stitches 26 are sewed into the finishingedge portion of the fabric, and as the stitches 25 are being formed afilling strand 27 is fed into the same through a suitable guiding eye onthe sewing machine. The fabric is now complete, as shown in Figs. 4 and5. When elastic strands are employed in the main The parts of the fabricshowm in the drawings have been spread apart or opened forclcarness ofillustration, and it will be,

understood that in the actual finished fabric the parts aredrawn up andlie much closer together.

The purpose of employing the heavier or thicker thread'in the course isto cause that portion of the fabric formed by the binding thread course20 to take enough thread from the sewing machine during theformation ofthe stitches to produce loose or open stitches and thereby permit theline of stitches to stretch substantially to the same extent that thefilling strands may be stretched, when covered rubber filling strandsare employed.

The overedge stitches 26 are produced by a common and well known sewingmachine employing a needle thread and two-or more looper threads, andthe line of stitches 26 produced thereby are as elastic longitudi nallyof the filling strands of the-fa-bric as the line of stitches 25 whichthey enclose.

I claim as my invention 1. A fabric comprising'filling strands arrangedside by side, knitted-binding thread courses having rows of connectedloop-s extending longitudinally of and forming enclosures whichconfinethe filling strands, a supplemental filling strand outwardly ofthe outermost filling, strand confined by said loops at one edge portionof the fabric, and edge finishing threads sewed into certain of saidloops and forming a line of overedge stitches enclosing saidsupplemental filling strand.

2. A fabric comprising filling strands arranged side by side, knittedbinding thread courses having rows of connected loops extendinglongitudinally of and forming enclosures which confine the fillingstrands, a supplemental filling strand outwardly of the outermostfilling strand confined by said loops at one edge portion of the fabric,and edge finishing threads sewed into certain of said loops outwardly ofthe outermost filling strand confined by said loops and forming a lineof overedge stitches enclosing said supplemental filling strand.

3. An elastic fabric comprising elastic filling strands arranged side byside, knitted binding thread courses having rows of connected loopsextending longitudinally of and forming enclosures which confine thefilling strands, a supplemental elastic filling strand outwardly of theoutermost filling strand confined by said loop-s at one edge portion ofthe fabric, and edge finishing threads sewed into certain of said loopsand forming a line of overedge stitches enclosing said supplementalfilling strand, said line of overedge stitches being longitudinallystretchable and permitting the longitudinal stretching of the fillingstrands.

.4. An elastic fabric comprising elastic filling strands arranged sideby side, knitted binding thread courses having rows of connected loopsextending longitudinally of and forming enclosures which confine thefilling strands, and threads forming aims of stitches sewed into one ofsaid rows of loops outwardly of the outermost filling strand confined bysaid loops at one edge of the fabric and preventing the opening of theenclosures which confine the filling strands, said stitches beingsufficiently full tov permit the line thereof to stretch in a directionlongitudinally of the filling strands I substantially equal to theextent to which .the remaining parts of the fabric may be stretched inthe same direction.

5. A fabric comp-rising filling strands arranged side by side, knittedbinding thread courses having rows of connected loopsextendinglongitudinally of and forming enclosures which confine thefilling strands,

threads forming a line of stitches sewed into one of said rows of loopsoutwardly of the outermost filling strand confined by said loops at oneedge of the fabric and preventing the opening of the enclosures whichconfine the filling strands, a supplemental filling strand adjacent tosaid line o-fstitches, and edge finishing threads sewed into the fabricand forming overedge stitches enclosing said line of stitches and saidsupplemental filling strand.

I 6. An elastic fabric comprising elastic filling strands arranged sideby side, knitted binding thread courses having rows of connected loopsextending longitudinally of and forming enclosures which confine thefilling strands, threads forming a. line of stitches sewed into one ofsaid rows of loops outwardly of the outermost filling strand confined bysaid loops at one edge of the fabric and preventing the opening of theenclosures which confined the filling strands, a supplemental, elasticfilling strand adjacent to said line of stitches, and edge finishingthreads sewed into the fabric and forming overedge stitches enclosingsaid line ofstitches and said supplemental filling strand, said stitchesbeing sufficiently full to permit the lines thereof to stretch in adirection longitudinally of the filling strands substantially equal tothe extent to which the remaining filling strands arranged side by side,knitted binding thread courses having rows of connected loops extendinglongitudinally of and forming enclosures which confine the fillingstrands, threads forming a line of stitches sewed into one of said rowsof loops outwardly of the outermost filling strand confined by saidloops at one edge portion of the fabric and preventing the opening ofthe enclosures which confine the filling strands, the thread forming therow of loops into which said line of stitches is sewed being thickerthan the thread forming other loops of the fabric and maintaining saidstitches sufiiciently full to permit the line thereof to stretch in adirection longitudinally of the filling strands substantially equal tothe extent to which the remaining parts of the fabric may be stretchedin the same direc tion.

8. The art of producing fabric whichcon sists in forming rows ofconnected binding thread loops by lmittingoperations, introducingfilling strands during the knitting operations to enclosures formed bythe binding thread loops, sewing a line of overedge thread stitches intocertain of said loops outwardly of the outermost filling strand confinedby said loops at one edge portion of the fabric, and inserting asupplemental filling strand into the overedge, thread stitches duringthe formation thereof.

9. The art of producing fabric which consists in forming rows ofconnected binding thread loops by knitting operations, introducingfilling strands during the knitting operations to enclosures formed bybinding thread loops and spacing two adjacent filling strands by aspacing row of the binding thread loops which connects the rows of loopsforming the enclosures for the said two adjacent filling strands, sewinga line of thread stitches into said spacing row of binding thread loops,and removing the rows of binding thread loops formed after the formationof the said spacing row thereof.

10. The art of producing fabric which consists in forming rows ofconnected binding thread loops by knitting operations, introducingfilling strands during the knitting operations to enclosures formed bybinding thread loops and spacing two adjacent filling strands by aspacing row of the binding thread loops which connects the rows of loopsforming the enclosures for the said two adjacent filling strands andwhich are formed of a thread of greater thickness than the thickness ofthe thread forming the previously formed adjacent loops in the body ofthe fabric, sewing a line of thread stitches into said spacing row ofbinding thread loops, and removing the rows of binding thread loopsformed after the formation of the said spacing row thereof.

11. The art of producing fabric which consists in forming rows ofconnected binding thread loops by knitting operations, introducingfilling strands during the knitting operations to enclosures formed bythe binding thread loops, continuing the formation of rows of connectedbinding thread loops alone after the introduction of a predeterminednumber of filling strands, the first row of loops formed after theintroduction of the last of the filling strands being formed of a threadof greater thickness than the thickness of the thread forming thepreviously formed adjacent loops in the body of the fabric, sewing aline of thread stitches into said first row of loops, and removing fromsaid first row of loops the binding thread loops formed subsequentlythereto.

12. The art of producing fabric which consists in forming rows ofconnected binding thread loops 'by knitting operations, introducingfilling strands during the knitting operations to enclosures formed bythe binding thread loops, sewing a line of thread stitches intoa row ofbinding thread loops between the next adjacent filling strand on oneside thereof and the next adjacent row of binding thread loops on theopposite side thereof, removing the said next adjacent row of bindingthread loops fromthe loops containing the line of thread stitches,sewing a line of overedge, thread stitches into a row of binding threadloops, and inserting a supplemental filling strand into the overedge,

thread stitches during the formation thereof, said overedge, threadstitches confining the first named line of stitches and saidsupplemental filling strand therein.

In testimony whereof I affixmy signature hereto.

WILLIAM J. FOX.

